Subterranean water cooler and purifier



G. EMERSON. Subterranean Water Cooler and'Purifier.

No. 228,618. Patened June 8,1880.

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UNITED ,STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE EMERSON, OE GAMEIEE, OHIO.

SUBTERRANEAN WATER COOLER AND PURIFIER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 228,618, dated June 8, 1880.

Application filed February 13, 1880.

To all whom tt may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE EMERSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Gambier, in the county ot' Knox and State of Ohio, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements in Subterranean Water Coolers and Purifiers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and t-o the letters of reference marked thereon, making a part of this specification.

My invention relates to subterranean water coolers and purifiers. In many large cities drawing their supply of drinking-water from the Mississippi, Ohio, and other streams whose waters contain a large percentage of dirt and grit, it becomes necessary to filter all the fluid used. The process is sion7 and the means eX- pensive, and the water when received in summer is warm and unpleasant.

The object of my invention is to overcome these objections by presenting a cooler and purifier provided with a subterranean receiving-vessel, in which the water, before being drawn oft' for drinking purposes, will settle and become clear and cool; also, to provide suitable and convenient means for discharging from a receiver so constructed the accumulated sediment at will.

It consists in the combination of a funnelshaped or conical sediment-collector with the bottom of a cylindrical tank or reservoir fitted with a service-pipe at its upper end and a supply-pipe entering above the conical receiver. and in connecting the funnel-shaped or conical receiver with a blow-oli' or discharge pipe, for the purpose of' cleansing the tank by the force of the water-pressure from the supplypipe.

It consists, furthermore, in combining a turbinate wheel either with the conical or a cylindrical bottom for the tank, so that the wheel will be operated automaticallyT by the current of water produced by opening the blow-oli' pipe. The sediment in the water supplied to the tank will settle and be deposited upon the win gs ofthe turbine, and will be thence quickly dislodged and discharged by its automatic movement under the iniiuence of the current produced by opening the discharge-pipe.

The tank is designed for use primarily in settling and purifying water, and secondarily in cooling the same by the burial of the tank underground to a sufficient depth to assure a constant temperature unaffected by atmospheric changes.

My invention permits the tank to be readily cleansed and all sediment thoroughly removed therefrom by thel water-pressure alone.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section oi' my improved apparatus when constructed with a single cylinder and fitted with a funnel-shaped sediment-collector and turbinate wheel. Fig. 2 is an elevation, in perspective, oi' the apparatus when made double. Fig. 3 is a transverse section, attording a plan view of the turbinate wheel; and Fig. 4 illustrates a modification, in fo 1in, ot' spiral sedimentwheel adapted for use in a tank in which the funnel-shaped receptacle is omitted. f'

The tank or reservoir A in my apparatus is constructed in two cylindrical sections, a d, united by a suitable water-tight joint atb, and may be cheaply constructed ot' cast-iron.

A discharge-piiiic, B, is connected laterally to the lower section, a, ot' the reservoir, at the bottom thereof, and is led oft thence to a sewer or drain. A supply-pipe, C, from the water-main is likewise connected to the lower section, c", near its upper edge, at such height above the bottom as to leave full space for the sediment to settle below it. A service-pipe, D, is carried from the upper end of the tank to the point where the water is required for drinking purposes. Each of' these pipesB C D is provided with a suitable stop-cock, c o2 o3.

For the purpose oi' et'tecting readily'a discharge oi' the sediment deposited by the water left standing in the tank to be cooled and purified, I place in the lowersection, a, of the tank, before the sections are united and sealed, a funnel-shaped receptacle, E, whose inner surface is enameled, so as to be perfectly smooth, and whose lower end terminates in a pipe or tube bent so as to project into the mouth of the discharge-pipe B of the tank. The upper edge of the funnel is of such diameter as to Iit snugly with a close joint against the inner periphery of the tank. lt may be made of cast-iron enameled, or even of glass.

By the use of this funnel-shaped receptacle alone the mud and other impurities settling from the water will, when deposited upon its sloping sides, be readily dislodged and discharged by means of a direct current made to pass through it by opening the discharge-pipe B and supply-pipe C; but to facilitate this cleansing process a turbinate wheel, F. may be advantageously combined with the funnel E. This ywheel formed of two or more spiral blades, ff, Figs. l. and 3, arranged about a central shaft, w, and whose outer edges are so shaped and disposed as to nearly touch the sides of the funnel, so that in revolving over the same they shall pass closely' over every part of its surface. The lower end of the shaft fw is stepped in asuitable offset in the bottom of the funnel, and its upper end passes freely through a bearing in a cross-bar at the top, so that lthe wheel shall be free to turn with ease under the force of a current passing down through thefunnel.

The advantage obtained by the use of the wheel lies in the fact that the sediment will be deposited in settling upon the blade or wings j" j" of the wheel, instead of dropping to the bottom of the funnel to choke it, and will, when the wheel is set in motion by the action of the current, when the discharge-pipe is opened, be quickly dislodged and carried out with the stream.

I contemplate the application of this seifacting turbinate wheel or series of revolving spiral blades to the bottom of a cylindrical tank independently of a funnel or of a conical bottom, as illustrated in Fig. 4. In this case the blades of the wheel are of equal width from top to bottom, so as to extend ont uniformly to the sides of the cylinder, as shown in the drawings. The operation of this form of wheel is similar to that of the wheel in the funnel, and the lower edges of the blades dislodge and stir up the deposits of sediment which 4may have reached the bottom of the tank. This form of wheel and tank is better adapted for use with a water-supply which is excessively turbid.

In all cases where there is large and continued requirement of water for drinking purposes it will be found advantageous to duplicate my improved cooling and purifying tanks, shown in Fig. 2. ln this -case the servicepipes from the tanks are united to the single service-pipe H, and these, together with the supply-pipes from the main and the discharge pipes to the sewer, are each controlled by a separate cock or valve, so that when the water is being drawn from the one tank the other tank may, by closing its service-pipe C, be disconnected, and by opening its dischargepipe B be washed out and cleansed, and thereafter iilled and allowed to stand, cool, and settle while the first is being emptied.

In the use of the apparatus in its simple form, Fig. l, a constant supply is furnished through the supply-pipe C; but as this pipe is much larger than the service-pipe D, through which the water is drawn for use, the water admitted to the tank will pass very slowly up through it, and in its slow passage will be cooled, and will deposit by gravity the sediment which may be held in suspension therein.

In the use of my apparatus it is designed that the tank shall be buried at such a depth underground as will insure the cooling` of its contents when allowed to remain therein a sni'licient length of time, and to connect the supply-pipe with the main of a city-supply system, or otherwise, with an elevated reser-l voir furnishing a suiiicient water-pressure to insure the proper flushing and cleansing of the tank when its blow-oft' or discharge pipe is opened.

rIhe apparatus may, however, be used simply for settling and purifying thewater for general use, and in this case the tank need not be buried, but may be placed in a cellar, or otherwise conveniently located for use.

I do not broadly claim vthe use of a subterranean tank for cooling the water, to which the water is supplied from the top and drawn off at the bottom, as is shown in the Letters Patent issued to J. M. Baird, May 29, 1866.

/Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination, substantially1 as herein set forth, of an independent blow-olf pipe, B, with the conical bottom E of a vertical purifying-tank, A, and with a separate service-pipe, D, fitted to the top, and a supplypipe, C, entering near the bottom of said tank, whereby the fresh water entering the tank shall be made to pass slowly upward through the same before delivery therefrom, and the sediment, gravitating and settling from the water in its transit, be thereafter readily discharged as occasion shall require.

2. The combination, with the lower end of a vertical purifying-tank, A, and with its supply and discharge pipes C B, of a turbinate wheel, E, arranged to revolve freely in the bottom of the tank under the iniiuence of a current passing through it from its supply to its discharge pipe, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE EMERSON.

itnessesz I ALONZO JAcoBs, LEONARD A. JAcoBs.

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